Pistols with a rotary barrel are known per se but are not very widespread. Firstly, they are considered as shooting particularly quietly and are therefore desirable since the barrel carries out a movement only about its axis or the bore axis, whereas, for example in the case of drop barrel pistols, the center of gravity of the barrel carries out a vertical movement to which a rotational movement about a transverse axis of the weapon is also added, which makes the weapon noisy per se. Since, however, on the other hand, in the case of the rotary barrel, the components necessary for carrying out and limiting the rotational movement are subjected to extremely hard stresses and experience a high degree of wear, which in practice time and again leads to problems in the reliability of such weapons, pistols with a rotary barrel have not really taken off.
As an example of pistols with a rotary barrel, reference is made to EP 359 715, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,504, the content of said US document is incorporated by reference into the content of the present application for jurisdictions in which this is possible. According to these documents, the rotational movement of the barrel is brought about by a correspondingly contoured block which is inserted around the restoring spring in the handle piece. Apart from the complicated production and the not entirely straightforward installation and removal, the high dynamic shock-type forces which are to be transmitted upon each shot are not introduced into the handle part directly, but rather via said block, as a result of which great problems relating to the wear and the accuracy of the movement occur.
A weapon of this type can also be found on the internet at www.bing.com/videos with a date of 13 Sep. 2015 by searching the keywords ‘beretta,’ ‘px4,’ and ‘storm,’ or found in the EPO library under XP054976549, and also an identical or similar weapon under XP054976552, or on the internet at www.youtu.be/DOvDmZVOunM.
A firearm which is entirely separate in many details from 1924, which, although it does not have a rotary barrel, does contain a rotatable breech, is known from DE 459 454 and its additional patent corresponding to DE 478 630, overall corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 1,637,400. The content of said US document is incorporated by reference into the content of the present application for jurisdictions in which this is possible. The weapon disclosed there has a barrel which is movable rectilinearly for a short distance along its axis and moves to the rear together with the carriage and the breech after discharging a shot. Upon reaching its end position, the barrel imparts an additional impulse via a lever to the carriage and therefore accelerates the latter beyond the speed of the breech. At the same time, a control surface of the carriage also comes into contact with a projection of the breech, rotates said projection, as a result of which the form-fitting locking thereof with the barrel is released and the breech moves further rearwards together with the carriage, as a result of which the chamber is finally opened. The necessary correct sequence of the movements requires an accuracy in production which even today cannot be achieved in an economically expedient manner, and there is no mention at all of problems with wear and the risk of soiling and the problematic maintenance. Whether this weapon has ever been provided in practice is unclear.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,427,966 from 1921, the content of said US document is incorporated by reference into the content of the present application for jurisdictions in which this is possible, going back to four German applications from 1915, describes kinematics which are inverse thereto and in which, for the unlocking-locking of the connection between barrel and breech, the barrel is rotated and this is undertaken by means of contact surfaces firstly on the barrel and secondly on the handle part. The same problems as in the previously mentioned construction therefore occur. This weapon has never taken off in practice.
In contrast thereto, pistols with a drop barrel are widespread a million times; in this connection, reference is made, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,889, U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,744 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,546 which describe such weapons in detail. The content of said documents is incorporated by reference into the content of the present application for jurisdictions in which this is possible.
There is therefore a need to provide a pistol with a rotary barrel that does not have the disadvantages mentioned, but rather is as robust as a pistol with a drop barrel and nevertheless has the advantages associated with the rotary barrel.
It is an aim of the invention to specify such a weapon.